Here’s some more information about the workshop I’ll be teaching in Hurley, New York this April 12th – 18th. You can sign up for this workshop or any of my workshops by visiting www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com. There is a lot of information on that website about the workshops, their cost, lodging, and more. Please check it out.
Hurley is an old, historic town in upstate New York. If you like history, this is a great place to visit. It’s also only a short drive to Woodstock, the location of some, uh, more modern history! It is, as so many straw bale workshop locations seem to be, a beautiful part of the country. Funnily enough, I’ve actually been to Hurley, many years ago. My father-in-law lived there for several years and I visited him one cold winter. I’m happy to not be building there in January and I expect it to be beautiful in April. Here’s what the host has to say about the project.
The “Cannery” is a 24X20 two story timber frame building with a loft. It is conveniently located between our biodynamic garden/apiary, our cedar hot tub, and our swimming pond. The first floor will be used for storage of beekeeping equipment, food processing in the summer/fall and all types of events throughout the year. The second floor has already hosted a formal dinner for 35 people last March and we don’t even have walls up! Nothing that a few kerosene heaters can’t fix. We will install kitchen cabinets and a stove on the north facing, non-windowed wall. Upstairs will be a mix of a one room school-house and artists studio. My partner, Michael, and I homeschool our 4 and 6 year old children so we are hoping for an all natural space for projects and gatherings of other homeschooling families. Michael, Creative Director for Blue Man Group, will outfit the other half of the top floor as a writing/recording studio. The loft will be a guest room sleeping space.
We designed the building south-facing to capture as much of the sun as possible with skylights and windows on the south wall. The garden side has large double doors and a porch roof for keeping garden tools and projects out of the rain. We will have running water and electricity in the building and a composting toilet. We plan to heat with an outdoor wood boiler that can be attached to the house and the cannery and the hot tub, eliminating our gas/oil usage.
We started the project with timbers cut from our own property, and although we did not have enough for the whole building, we got pretty close. The wood was milled on site the year prior to building and left to dry. One thirty foot long 8X10 had to be raised to the top of the second floor. That was a fun day! We got that monster into place using one pickup, one golf cart, a ton of ropes, multiple pulleys, 4 adults, and a 6 year old. The 6 year old drove the golf cart. To make up for our wood shortfall, we purchased locally harvested and milled timbers. The entire frame was built on the weekends and took about a year.
To sign up for this workshop, please click here or visit www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com to learn more about the workshop logistics.
About the Author
Andrew Morison is a specialist in straw bale and green construction. He has shown thousands of people how to build their own straw bale projects through his comprehensive series of instructional straw bale, concrete foundation, and plastering DVDs. You can check these out at http://www.LearnStrawBale.com.com.
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